Slay The Dragon

We all have a dragon in our life.

And it’s about time you killed that beast, cut its head off, poke it with a stick, stand on its corpse, do the Gangnam style dance, dive into its pile of gold like Scrooge McDuck, and release a deep belly laugh as you claim your victory.

(And in case you were wondering, I am 100% listening to the Skyrim fight music as I write this epic newsletter.)

When we look at mythology and ancient stories, it’s important to not look at the contents of the story literally, you’re supposed to look at it metaphorically.

Let’s take the story of the dragon attacking the kingdom…

The dragon is a symbol of evil and chaos, in both the chivalric and Christian traditions.

The kingdom is a symbol of order and structure.

Chaos attacks order and attempts to destroy it entirely, however, it can’t completely destroy it, it can only break it apart.

This is why not everyone in the kingdom dies when the dragon attacks, a group of individuals survive this attack.

Usually, in this archetypal medieval story, the dragon also steals all of the gold from the kingdom and takes it to it’s cave.

Okay, so what does gold represent?

One could say it’s a representation of value…

But when we look at gold in a spiritual sense, we can see that it’s almost universally associated with the sun…

And the sun is a symbol of the highest stage of spiritual development.

Okay, so that’s a lot.

We have a symbol of chaos, that attacks order…

Order breaks apart into many pieces…

Then the chaos steals the archetype of order’s spiritual development that it’s accumulated thus far.

Now, in every single one of these stories, a hero is called upon to go slay the dragon in its cave.

A hero is a symbol of courage, strength, and nobility

The more gold that the dragon has acquired and the more kingdoms that it’s destroyed, the more powerful it’s become.

Sometimes the hero dies, because the dragon is just too powerful.

But usually, the hero does end up slaying the dragon, allowing the kingdom to fully rebuild itself and obtain its previously lost gold.

Okay so let’s summarize everything…

Chaos breaks apart order.

Chaos takes away the structure of spiritual development.

A noble hero then goes to defeat the chaos so order can fully restore itself.

The hero brings back the structure of spiritual development.

Making sense?

Let me show you an application of this in real life using an experience fairly recent to me…

I’m a fairly organized, driven, and motivated person. (Kingdom)

I ended up getting pretty dependent on weed. (Dragon)

My productivity was garbage and a lot of my motivation faded away. (Dragon breaks apart the kingdom.)

I found myself justifying actions that I couldn’t morally agree with and felt very distant from god. (Dragon takes the gold from the kingdom.)

I decide to get my act together and stop wasting away my potential, I make the decision to get sober. (A hero is called upon.)

The first week is extremely difficult, my dreams were absolutely terrifying, I found myself on edge constantly, and my stress was at an all-time high. (The hero fights the dragon.)

Eventually, I no longer find myself needing the stuff, and I’ve kicked the vice entirely. (The hero defeats the dragon.)

This caused me to do a deep dive into my morals, values, and ethics which brought me to Orthodox Christianity. (The hero brings back the gold to the kingdom.)

I guarantee you can look at whatever problem you’re facing in life…

Maybe it’s a vice…

Maybe it’s something you’re avoiding that you know you need to do…

Whatever it is, that problem is a dragon.

Slay that thing.

And not like the modern-day “yasss slay queen”…

No.

Kill it. Mutilate it. Rip its heart out and sever its head.

Intense? Yes.

How else are you supposed to defeat chaos?

Do you think chaos cares about civility and being meek?

No, chaos is a monster.

Don’t half-ass your battle with the monster, confront it nobly and courageously.

Defeat it, and defeat it for good.

Because make no mistake, another dragon is coming…

And it’s a lot easier to deal with one dragon than two or three at a time.